


Megaman: Call to Action

by AileenRoseven, Storm137



Series: Megaman: Call to Action [1]
Category: Megaman - Fandom, Rockman.EXE | Mega Man Battle Network
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Brotherly Love, Family Feels, Other, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2020-12-09 06:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20990666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AileenRoseven/pseuds/AileenRoseven, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storm137/pseuds/Storm137
Summary: It's the year 20XX. Earth and the Cyber World are practically one in the same with humans and beings known as net navis working together to live in harmony. However, despite such efforts, trouble is still bound to come. Especially for Lan Hikari and his net navi, Megaman.





	1. Reboot

_Almost done. Just… Easy does it._

Yuichiro's eyes were narrowed in concentration as he finished up the code in front of him. It was a delicate procedure. One mistake and it would be all over. It would be one thing if he was coding a security system or a website.

This… This was different than anything he had ever done before.

He glanced over at his second monitor, seeing the image of a sleeping net navi being held up by spinning rings. His frame was still pixels in some areas but he was almost complete.

All that was left to do was finish his core.

_Soon… Soon, I'll see your eyes open once more._

This net navi… This child, was the culmination of his life's work.

Every pixel, every coding sequence, it had to count.

There were no such things as "try again" with this project.

Only perfection.

His hands flew across his keyboard, his mind drifting back for a moment to what prompted this whole thing.

"_Haruka, I promise, I'll do all in my power so we can see him again. Just please, hold on for me. Hold on for Lan too. We'll get him back."_

"_Do you promise?"_

"_On my life."_

"Zero, run diagnostic protocol and read back to me the reports."

"Running diagnostic protocol now." answered a voice from on of Yuichiro's monitors.

It was silence between Yuichiro and Zero as the test began. Only the beeps of the test could be heard along with the humming of the scans. After a particular beep, Zero spoke.

"Diagnostic results: vitals stable, core data formed, frame complete, DNA and memory of Hub Hikari accepted. Experiment was a complete success, Yuichiro. You did it."

Instantly, the man's gaze faded from serious to a look of relief as he slumped back in his chair, his gaze trailing to the second monitor.

"Thank you." He whispered, sighing in relief.

It hadn't been for nothing. The long nights, the time spent at the lab instead of home.

All of it had been worth it.

He entered one final command.

"Net Navi: Hub Hikari, coming online." Was written across the screen as the rings faded.

The net navi stumbled forward before their eyes flew open as they caught themselves, confusion in their gaze, turning around as they took in their surroundings.

_Where am I?_

Zero appeared on screen behind the net navi, a gentle look in his violet blue eyes.

"Hello there, Hub." He said.

Hub whirled around, stumbling a bit before falling backwards, landing on his back. He looked up at Zero with confusion and a slight bit of fear in his features.

Zero knelt down to his level, giving a small smile.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Zero. I'm your father's net navi."

Hub was quiet as his eyes widened, reaching a hand up shakily. His system raced as he tried to comprehend what was happening. He couldn't remember ever even being able to do that without shaking like crazy.

"You're okay now. I promise." Zero took his hand, squeezing it gently. "There's nothing to be afraid of anymore."

Hub nodded, his other hand going to where his heart would've been if he had it.

"No more pain?"

"No more. Ever again."

Zero helped him to his feet, looking towards the monitor that displayed Yuichiro.

Yuichiro kept his eyes locked on Hub. Tears were streaming down his face but he was smiling as he beheld the net navi. Zero lead Hub over, letting the boy go once they were close enough.

Hub looked at Yuichiro, putting a hand to the screen. Yuichiro put a finger where his hand was, his voice trembling as he spoke.

"D-Do you remember me, Hub?"

Hub tilted his head, recognition in his eyes. His memory bank flashed with soft voices, half whispered songs… and warmth.

A smile bloomed across his face, giving a nod.

"Papa! Of course I'd remember you! You're my papa!"

Yuichiro nodded, laughing a little.

"That's right, and you're still my little boy. Oh, Hub, I'm so glad it worked. Haruka is going to be so happy."

"Mama… right?"

"That's right. She misses you so much kiddo. She can't wait till I bring you home."

_She misses me._

It was strange, being able to process everything so quickly. His body was actually stable, there was no constant flickers between being fine or being in pain…

He was, for all intents and purposes… normal.

Different, but normal.

"I know this is all strange for you but… this was the best I could do for you. I wanted to honor your memory, Hub and… this was the best I had. I didn't think the success of one of my projects would be at the cost of losing you but… I guess I didn't in this regard." Yuichiro kept his finger over Hub's hand. "You're safe and alive, that's all that matters."

Hub nodded, his fingers curling around Yuichiro's finger.

"It's… weird being able to talk and walk and… be bigger. But… I kind of like it. I can help around the house now… Well, least whatever net navis can do anyway."

"And I know you'll be great." Yuichiro smiled. "We're still making adjustments as we go, but for now, the basic work is done. I can bring you home."

Hub nodded, resting his forehead against the monitor, content to stay right there for now.

"I can't wait."

Zero walked over, resting a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"You're gonna do just fine kid. Anything you need to know about being a net navi, just ask ol'Zero and Airisu for that. Alright?"

"Okay, Papa." Hub sighed happily. "I will. I promise."

"Good." Yuichiro picked up an empty PET, hooking it into the computer. "Jack out, Hub."

Hub disappeared from the screen, reappearing in the PET monitor. The boy looked around in wonder at his new surroundings. It was a simple little cyber set up with floating monitors, wallpaper that had the design of the Hikari family crest with hexagon patterns, there was even a bed set up with a little toy lion sitting on it.

"I know it's not much but I promise I'll add more later." Yuichiro said. "Do you like it?"

Hub giggled, running to the bed and throwing himself across it, sighing happily.

"Like it? Papa, I love it!" He sat up after a moment, his eyes full of joy. "This is the neatest thing ever!"

"Do you need anything else for now? I can download a few extra things if you want."

"Hm…" Hub looked around, noting that aside from the lion, he had a few puzzles in boxes. "A ball?"

"Sure thing." He inserted a chip into the PET as a soccer ball materialized before him. "This isn't a battle chip, so it'll stay for good."

"Thanks, Papa!" Hub leaped off his bed, already starting to kick it around his little space, making note of each movement he was able to make.

It was different, it was a little weird…

But he was alive! He was actually able to kick around a ball! He was able to walk!

"I love you, Papa!"

Yuichiro smiled softly.

"I love you too, Hub. Have fun exploring the PET. I need to finish up a few things then we can head home."

"Okay!"

Yuichiro chuckled, putting the PET into sleep mode, putting it in his PET holder, switching it out with Zero's.

"Jack out, Zero."

Zero appeared in his PET, a smile on his face.

"You did great Yuichiro. Haruka and Airisu are going to be very happy."

"That's the hope." Yuichiro nodded, cleaning up his work area, turning off his monitors. "Just have to wait and see their reactions when we bring Hub home."

"Right… by the way. Not that I am against it but is he going to be sticking by his old name even as a navi?"

"Yes and no." Yuichiro answered. "While at home we can most certainly call him Hub, I believe it's best that he has a different alias to go by as a safety precaution. Hub isn't exactly a name you give a net navi. The only people who will know will be me, you, Haruka, Airisu and… when he's old enough to understand, Lan."

Zero nodded, a look of understanding in his eyes. The Hikaris were rather well known in the scientific community. He could understand why they would keep it under wraps.

"Then, what will his other alias be?"

Yuichiro glanced down at the PET in his holder before smiling.

"Megaman."


	2. Whole

It hadn't been easy the last few months. Their little family had gone from four to three in what seemed like an instant.

While Haruka did her best to keep going, it was still agonizing. Wondering if there had been any earlier signs she could've noticed. If she could've seen it sooner.

_But there was no telling what was going to happen. We thought they were both healthy when I was pregnant. It wasn't until they were born that we found out._

Now, it was just waiting.

She still wasn't sure if her husband's idea was even going to work. She hadn't seen him in over two weeks for more than a few hours to sleep and then rush back to the lab.

"Airisu? Is it wrong that we're doing this?"

"No." Her net navi shook her head. "You're trying to cope and well, this is your way of coping. It might seem extreme to some but… this is the Hikari family. We tend to be a bit more… out there with our methods in dealing with situations. Like how Yuichiro always likes having your special spaghetti whenever something bad happens."

Haruka chuckled a bit.

"I guess that's true. Just… this is different than that though."

"I know, Haruka. But… Yuichiro just wants you to be happy and… he misses Hub just as much as you do. We all do."

Haruka sighed, glancing down.

"I won't deny how much I miss our baby boy. He was such a happy little thing before he got sick." She closed her eyes, her hands gripping at skirt. "I just don't understand why we had to lose him. He didn't do anything wrong."

"Haruka…"

"My little baby boy…"

"WAAHHH!"

Haruka and Airisu straightened up at the sound of a baby wailing.

"Looks like something woke up Lan."

Haruka got up from her chair, heading to Lan's room. The little boy was squirming in his crib, his cheeks streaming with tears.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh…" Haruka picked him up. "It's okay, Lan. Shhh…" She rocked him gently. "It's okay."

Lan whimpered, huddling up to his mother, grabbing onto her shirt.

"Goodness, what has you so upset?"

Airisu appeared on the monitor they kept in the room, looking through the camera recordings.

"Doesn't appear to be anything visual." Airisu noted the little boy appeared to have reached a hand out to what seemed to be nothing before his happy face turned to sadness. "I guess he saw something we couldn't on the camera."

"Odd…" Haruka looked down at her son.

Lan was looking around the room, some small whimpers still escaping him. He soon curled back up to his mother.

She frowned, holding him tighter, kissing his head.

"Shh… It's okay Lan.. I got you." Haruka, whispered, taking one last glance around the room before leaving.

Lan relaxed visibly as soon as they left the room, tucking his head under his mother's, eyes half lidded as he let out a small yawn.

"Wah…"

Haruka glanced back for a moment before taking Lan to the living room.

"How about you keep me company while we wait for your Daddy, huh?"

"Bah…"

Haruka took her place in the chair she was in earlier, Airisu reappearing in her PET.

"I have to wonder what he saw." Airisu thought out loud. "I've read somewhere that sometimes babies can see things that older humans can't."

Haruka hummed in thought, her gaze focused on her son. She had an idea, part of her wondering if it was even logical to think about.

"I wonder… if he saw Hub. They were so close when he was still with us."

"The ever doting big brother. If Lan was upset, Hub was right there." Airisu smiled softly. "Ever helpful."

"Even if that meant Lan swiping his snacks."

"Yep."

"Haruka?"

Haruka looked up to see Yuichiro entering the front door. He was tired but he had a huge grin on his face. Haruka went to stand but Yuichiro held up a hand, signaling her to stay where she was.

He slipped off his shoes before making his way over to her. He put Zero's PET next to Airisu's before pulling out another one from his holder. He knelt next to her chair, showing the PET to her and Lan.

"Haruka… I did it."

Her eyes widened, as she looked at the PET before back to her husband.

"You… You really did?"

He nodded, warmth in his eyes, mixing with relief. He took her free hand, squeezing it gently.

"He's right here. He's been looking forward to talking with you."

Haruka's eyes grew misty before she nodded, not trusting herself to speak just yet, signalling for him to take the device out of sleep mode.

Yuichiro flipped the switch as the screen illuminated.

"Hub, say hello to Mom."

Hub appeared on the screen, his eyes widening at seeing Haruka.

Haruka's eyes did the same as she took in Hub's new appearance.

No longer was he the little baby boy she had held in her arms. Instead, he now appeared to be eleven years old. He was dressed in blue armor that had teal and yellow accents, the family crest now present on his chest.

They stared at each other for a few more moments in silence till Hub spoke.

"Mama?"

Haruka was startled out of her stupor before she reached a finger out, resting it over his cheek.

"I'm right here, baby boy." She replied, her voice shaky, a smile coming across her face. "I'm here."

Hub grinned, his eyes a little shiny, reaching a hand out, meeting her finger against the screen.

"I'm home."

She gently took the PET from Yuichiro, a tear running down her face. He still had the same eyes she remembered so fondly, the same smile.

There was no doubt in her mind, that this was her son.

"Oh my baby!"

She held the PET close to her heart, right next to Lan.

"Both my babies… I finally have you both back."

"Mom…"

Yuichiro brought his arms around his wife and children, resting his head against hers.

"It's not the ideal situation but… we're all here now. Our family is whole again."

Haruka nodded.

"Yes."

She held the PET out again, looking at Hub.

"So… where do we go from here?" Hub asked.

"Still figuring that out but for now, all that matters is you're here. Zero and Airisu will help you adjust to being a net navi." Yuichiro answered. "You can help around the house, you'll be able to help take care of Lan but other than that, not sure what else the future will have in mind. Though, one thing I need to bring up."

Hub tilted his head.

"Hm?"

"While at home, we will still call you Hub. However, when you eventually are allowed to leave our houses net system, you can not go by the name outside."

"Huh?"

"What!?" Haruka gave her husband a baffled look. "But that's his name. Why can't he?"

"Because it will draw attention." Yuichiro's look was serious. "Haruka, Hub is a very special navi. If someone were to find out about that I fear what might happen to him. What that kind of information would… attract. Our family isn't exactly obscure."

"I suppose…" Haruka frowned, looking to Hub. "Then… what is his name when he's not at home?"

Yuichiro gave a gentle look at he looked at Hub.

"I've dubbed him with the name of Megaman to be his net navi alias."

Haruka raised an eyebrow.

"Megaman?"

Hub hummed in thought, a hand going to his chin.

"Megaman huh?" He thought aloud, a big grin crossing his features. "Hey, that sounds cool! I like it!"

Haruka looked to him, before she sighed a smile coming to her face.

"Like father, like son. If he likes it, I like it."

"Then we're in agreement." Yuichiro chuckled. "Though he'll probably be in the house net system for awhile. Zero and Airisu will help prepare him for outside interaction but for the time being, he just stays here."

"Sounds like a plan." Haruka sighed in content, placing the PET in Lan's hands, the baby fast asleep. He smiled, holding the PET close to him. "Aww…"

"Heh… I'm home, little brother." Hub smiled softly, both hands on the screen as he looked up at his sibling. He chuckled, as a thought crossed his mind. "So… am I officially the big brother now?"

They chuckled, keeping close to one another.

"Seems so."

"Finally!"

Yuichiro laughed.

"That's my boy." He looked at Hub, seriousness in his eyes. "Though I guess one thing I will assign you as a net navi duty, Hub."

"What's that?"

"When you're ready and when Lan himself is ready, I want you to watch out for him as his personal net navi. Think you'd be up for that?"

Hub shrugged.

"I already watched out for him before. What'll make it different as his navi? I think I can handle him… But… does Lan get to know about…" He pointed to himself. "Me? Like, the real me?"

"That… we'll have to play by ear, Hub. When he's really little, we'll have to keep it quiet for a time. Little kids will tell secrets and while most won't believe him, there is a small chance that he could let it slip."

Hub's face fell, before he shook his head.

"Then I'll just be Megaman to him then. The super cool net navi!"

"That's the spirit… But no matter what." Yuichiro brought his hand over Lan's, his thumb brushing against the PET. "You will always be our son."

Haruka nodded, bringing her hand over Yuichiro's.

"Always."

He smiled, keeping close to the screen, his head resting against it.

"And I'll always love you. All of you."

"And we love you. Welcome home, Hub."


	3. A Promise

Lan was practically floating on air as he skated home. It had been a long month but he finally made it through… and he had to admit, bringing home a piece of paper with "A+"s written on it felt pretty amazing.

_Maybe I should do this more often…_

… _Hm… I'll think about that later._

_Right now, it's finally time!_

Lan skidded to a halt as he came up to his home, quickly unlatching his removable skates, rushing up to the door.

"Mom! Airisu! I'm home!" Lan called, taking off his shoes."I got something to show you both!"

Haruka leaned into the living room from the kitchen, curiosity in her eyes. Airisu' image flickered onto the laptop in the room, her arms crossed.

"Oh? What is it sweetie?" Haruka asked, grinning a little.

Lan smirked, lifting his head high, holding the paper up for both to see.

"I got ALL A'S!"

Haruka smiled.

"Oh, that's wonderful sweetie! Looks like your study sessions with Airisu have all paid off."

Airisu smirked, nodding her head.

"Knew I could whip you into shape… Though can't take all the credit." Her look turned gentle. "There was a carrot for this stubborn mule."

Lan nodded, bouncing a bit in place.

"Yeah! You guys promised… I still get that right?" He gave a bit of a puppy eyed look. "I didn't slack off once. Right?"

"Not even when that new game came out. We're both very proud." Airisu grinned. "I'll send a message to Yuichiro."

Lan gasped before he cheered, throwing his arms around his mother.

"YES! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!"

Haruka laughed a little, hugging her son.

"I'll make curry tonight to celebrate. Then maybe a sundae to go with it."

"Yes, please! I'd love that! Plus, perfect way to kick off the weekend!"

"Very well. I'll call up your father and tell him the good news."

"I'll just be in my room then." Lan rubbed his hands together. "It's been hard resisting but I really want to test out the VR set Dad brought home. Especially with that game he got for it too."

"I'll keep an eye on him." Airisu said, shaking her head. "If you hear screaming, it's nothing to be concerned about."

Haruka nodded.

"Thank you, Airisu."

Airisu disappeared from the laptop screen as Lan ran up to his room.

Lan was bouncing on his heels as he got the system set up. Before he put the headset on, he took a glance at the PET on his desk. It was currently charginging, a standard net navi sitting on the screen. It had no name, it was just a placeholder navi. No personality whatsoever, just a blank slate for Lan to project on to.

_Soon though it's goodbye Mr. Standard Navi with weak stats and hello expert cyber warrior!_

"You, my old friend, are so outta here." He grinned. "Pack your cyber bags, it's net battling here on out!"

"Lan."

"Ack! I mean… I'll always treasure the help." Lan mumbled. "Airisu, c'mon, it's basically nothing."

"Still, don't be rude. Your new navi will be your friend too, not just a fighting machine. We aren't going to have a repeat of when you went through your "Let's steal Zero and enter twenty net battles." phase."

Lan gave a sheepish look.

"I just really wanted to battle and they didn't allow regular navis… and Zero is a veteran at this stuff."

"Key word, veteran. As in, he doesn't really do it anymore unless he absolutely has to. He's a dedicated navi to research now. Just like how your father used to travel all the time before he decided to settle down." Airisu gave a smile. "And be here more so he could help take care of you and be there for you. Like a good father."

Lan smiled a little.

"I am glad he decided to stay home more… Though ehehe… wouldn't have been if it wasn't because I was being a little brat in school. I learned though!"

"More like a work in progress." Airisu chuckled. "Fret not, it'll be corrected in time."

"Oh, come on, Airisu! I got straight A's for a month!"

She gave him a wink.

"I'll talk Haruka into giving you a special battle chip if you keep it up for another two."

Lan let out a sharp gasp, eyes widening.

"You swear?"

"I swear on my data. You keep bringing home good grades, you get rewarded." She grinned. "Just keep making us proud."

He smiled, giving a nod.

"I will. Now… I got game mysteries to figure out. Care to watch?"

"Of course. Someone has to point out when the level goes nightmare mode."

"Then let's do it!" Lan put on his headset. "Here we come, you haunted pizzeria!"

Airisu chuckled, sitting down as she began to watch.

_Oh, Hub and Lan are going to make an interesting team._

oooooo

"Cyber sword!"

CLANK!

Zero grinned as he and Megaman locked swords.

The two were currently in the middle of a training session. While Megaman was more so an errand boy, an assistant in the lab and a helping hand around the house security system, net battling was never a bad thing to teach him.

_Especially with who his future net op is going to be._

Megaman grinned as he sliced forward, sending Zero flying. Zero flipped into the air, landing with grace. He panted, staring Megaman down. Megaman was panting as well but he still stood strong.

"Nicely done, Megaman." Zero stood up straight, dissipating his sword. "You're getting better with your close combat."

"Thanks. You're still doing good too." Megaman smirked. "For a veteran."

Zero chuckled.

"Very funny." Zero crossed his arms. "Alright, that'll be it for now. Shall we go make sure Yuichiro didn't pass out at his keyboard again?"

"If he did, can I scream?"

"I'll help."

The boy snickered before disappearing from view as they sped through the connection in SciLabs, popping up on the monitors at Yuichiro's workstation.

True to their prediction, the man was slumped forward, his face pressed into his keyboard, the document having a series of "w"s trailing off.

Zero whistled, an unimpressed look coming to his face.

"He didn't save."

Megaman rolled his eyes, deleting the excess letters and saving the document for Yuichiro before turning to his father, mischief in his green eyes.

"Five…"

"Four…"

"Three…"

"Two…"

They both took a deep breath.

"YUICHIRO HIKARI! WAKE UP!"

"UWAH!"

Yuichiro fell out of his chair and right on to the floor, flat on his back, groaning a bit. Zero and Megaman laughed, holding their sides.

"Oh, circuits! His face!" Megaman was wiping at his eye. "And I think he went flying at least ten feet!"

"If I didn't know better I'd say a mettaur possessed him!" Zero laughed harder. "Gotta process faster if ya wanna get ahead of us!"

Yuichiro sat up, rubbing his head, putting his glasses back on. He gave a bit of a stern look at the two net navis before he started laughing.

"I'll give credit where credit is due, that was a good scare." He looked to his computer, happy to see it was already cleaned up and saved. "Oh, good… I hadn't saved since… last night." He paled a bit. "That could've been a disaster."

Megaman chuckled, folding his arms behind his head.

"Awww, Dad, don't worry. If it hadn't, we would've found a way to recover it. Like last time!"

"Oh gosh, don't remind me." he cringed. "Two weeks of work into a corrupted USB. Guuuh!"

"Never again." Zero shook his head.

Beep beep beep!

"Hm?" Zero looked to a screen next to him, a grin coming to his face. "Oh, it's Haruka. Got a moment, Yuichiro?"

"Or I could talk to her for you." Megaman volunteered.

"How about together?" Yuichiro chuckled. "Put her on."

Zero nodded, pressing a button, Haruka appearing on screen, a wide grin on her face.

"Hey, Honey!" Yuichiro greeted, waving a little.

Megaman jumped up in front of the window, waving like crazy.

"Hi Mom!"

"Hi sweetheart, hi kiddo." She chuckled. "How are my favorite boys?"

"Dad fell asleep at his computer again. Zero and I had to scream to get him to wake up."

She raised an eyebrow, a knowing look in her eyes.

"Had to or wanted to?" She teased.

Megaman looked down to his boots, trying to hide the grin on his face.

"Wanted to. We saved his work though."

"That's my little virus buster." She giggled. "I got great news too."

"Oh?"

"What's going on, Dear?" Yuichiro asked.

Haruka said nothing, holding up Lan's report card for all three to see.

"Ta-ada."

"Oh, congrats to him!" Zero grinned. "And congrats to Airisu for being able to help him study successfully. I thought she was going to lose her circuits because of that boy."

Haruka snickered a bit.

"There were moments, especially when Lan wanted to play his games… but a few well timed "accidents" with the router helped… and a promise." Her gaze softened, as she looked to Megaman. "You remember that talk we had, Son?"

His eyes lit up, nodding.

"Yeah! When Lan was ready, I'd stop being an errand boy and become his net navi, right? That's still the plan?"

"It is and well, since Lan kept his promise of getting straight A's for a month. I think it's finally time. He's shown he can be responsible. Least, I think so. Yuichiro?"

Yuichiro nodded.

"Yes. I haven't heard any stories of him getting into rough net battles with Dex and his school work is improving. Just hope it can stay that way."

"I'll make sure Airisu's work doesn't go to waste." Megaman winked. "I'll even make sure he doesn't fall asleep at his desk like a certain someone."

Zero barked out a laugh, throwing his head back.

"I don't think they make an aloe for that one."

"Oh hush." Yuichiro smirked, shaking his head. "But I agree, it's time. We'll transfer you to his PET some time today."

"Sounds good to me." Megaman grinned. "Just don't fall asleep at your desk anymore or I'll come back screaming."

"Duly noted."

"We'll see you at home." Haruka blew a kiss to both of them. "No crazy experiments, okay?"

"No promises!"

Haruka giggled before ending the call.

Megaman looked to Yuichiro.

"Can we see how many mettaurs we can stack up to the cyber sky?"

"... Maybe later."

oooooo

"Haruka! Lan! I'm home!"

Before he could even get his shoes off, Yuichiro was nearly tackled to the floor as Lan darted down the stairs.

"WELCOME HOME!"

"WHOA!" He laughed, hugging him. "You're in a great mood today."

"You got Mom's message right?" Lan asked, an excited look in his eyes. "Maybe not today but later...?"

Yuichiro smirked.

"After dinner I'll program the navi into your PET. I can't do that when I'm hungry. Don't want me to mess up your set up, right?"

"No, of course not! That took me months!"

"Then after dinner it is."

Haruka made her way over, kissing his cheek.

"Welcome home, Honey. Have a good day at work?"

"Yep. Making plenty of progress on our research on that energy source we're trying to use for our digital projections. Just still working out the bugs."

"Glitches or literal ones?" Lan asked.

"Yes."

"Oh… Oh, that's bad."

"Yeah but we're not going to dwell on that. Tonight is a night to celebrate for my little boy making progress in his school work."

Lan grinned.

"And to my new navi!"

Yuichiro chuckled.

"Haruka, we sure this our son? He's more worried about something else than food."

Haruka laughed.

"Oh, definitely. Wanna tell your dad what you told me a few minutes ago?"

Lan was bouncing on his heels, mischief in his eyes.

"Airisu said if I kept it up you guys would get me a rare battle chip."

"... Oh she is baaad. Yep that's our son."

Lan grinned.

"Soooo… dinner?"

"Yes, yes, I'm starving."

They all settled around the dinner table. While it was enjoyed at a moderately good pace, it was still fast. Lan practically inhaled his curry before running up the stairs to his room with his ice cream bowl. Yuichiro followed shortly after, taking his place at Lan's desk.

Lan couldn't touch his ice cream. He was too busy watching his dad work with his PET.

_This is it… This is it!_

Yuichiro nodded as he finished putting the last bit of code in before producing a USB that had the Hikari family crest on it.

"Alright, ready to meet your new net navi Lan?"

Lan nodded.

"Yes!"

Yuichiro smiled, plugging the USB into the charging port.

"Here he comes."

There was a beep before the screen glowed brightly. Lan's eyes were wide as he saw the standard navi disappear, new codes and structures filling the screen. They all moved around before they came together, a silhouette of a new navi appearing. The silhouette was similar to the old standard navi but Lan didn't want to say anything still he saw what it looked like.

The light faded, revealing a net navi decked out in blue armor with teal and yellow accents, the family crest present on his chest. He had a grin on his face along with a glint in his bright green eyes. Eyes that were a mirror image to Lan's.

"Lan." Yuichiro smiled. "Meet Megaman."

Lan jumped up, leaning over his father's shoulder, eyes wide in wonder as he took in the image on the screen.

"Whoa…"

"Hey there." Megaman waved. "Nice to finally meet ya, Lan."

"Y-You too." He looked him over. "Speed type, built for fast combat with a heavy focus on… close combat?"

"Bit of long range and close." He winked. "Good job guessing though."

Yuichiro looked to Lan.

"What do you think?"

He grinned, side hugging him.

"Thank you! HE'S PERFECT!"

Megaman waited until Lan looked away to heave a sigh of relief.

_Whew. He doesn't want a bigger navi. Thank the maker._

"Good." Yuichiro smiled, side hugging his son. "You promise to take good care of him, yes?"

"Of course! That's what a net op is supposed to do, right?"

"Yes. Your navi is not just an assistant. They are your companion. A friend. Zero and I are very much like brothers. I hope to see that same kind of bond between you and Megaman."

Lan looked to Megaman, excitement in his eyes.

"I think we can manage that… right?"

"Of course!" Megaman smiled. "I'll always have your back, Lan. That's a promise."

"Thank you. I promise the same." Lan cheered a little. "I FINALLY HAVE MY OWN NET NAVI!"

Yuichiro smiled as he watched Lan pick up his PET, hugging it close to him.

"We're going to be a great team! I know it!"

_Together again._

Yuichiro sighed happily.

_Just like we wanted._


	4. Just Another Day

"_AND THE WINNER IS LAN HIKARI AND MEGAMAN!"_

_The crowd erupted into cheers, the arena echoing with the voices of thousands. All cheering his name._

_All the training, all the lost sleep, had been worth it._

_Lan looked around him, basking in the glory._

"_LAN! LAN! LAN! LAN!"_

"Lan!"

"_I know, I'm just that great! It was easy!" He laughed, throwing his head back._

"_LAN!"_

"LAN HIKARI!"

"UWAH!"

THUD!

He grumbled, rubbing his head as he got off the floor. He looked to where his PET was, the face of his net navi giving him a smirk.

"Good morning. Care to rejoin the living?" Megaman quipped.

"I'm up, I'm up." Lan stretched his arms over his head. "What time is it?"

"6:40 AM. I got you up before you gotta really get out the door. Don't wanna be late for that test, right?"

Lan grimaced.

"Riiight, because that worked so well when I was in elementary school."

Megaman rolled his eyes, chuckling. It was hard to believe how fast the years had flown by. Upgrades, netbattling… and getting to know each other.

_Already 14… Where did the time go?_

"Alright, Mr. Sassy, go get breakfast unless you wanna go to school hungry. Again."

Lan grabbed up his PET heading downstairs.

"Don't you even start!"

"Heh!"

Lan stretched his arms over his head, making his way over to the dining area. Haruka was already busy cooking up breakfast, Airisu helping in whatever way she could, mainly with the stove and moderating the temperature.

Lan sniffed the air, sighing happily at the cinnamon tinted smell that filled the room.

_French Toast…_

Haruka looked to him, smiling.

"Morning, Lan. I see Megaman was very attentive about getting you out of bed."

Megaman appeared on the screen Airisu was on, a grin on his face.

"He had his head up in the clouds about entering the net battling championship again."

"Mega!"

Airisu giggled, patting Megaman's head.

"I know you think about it too, sweetie."

"Ari!"

Haruka laughed, shaking her head.

"One day, you two, one day. Right now." Haruka flipped two pieces of french toast onto a plate, handing them to Lan. "Preparing for the school day."

Lan grinned, hurrying over to the dining table, digging right in.

"Thanks, Mom! Airisu!"

Haruka smiled, nodded, going to make more.

"He's definitely going to want seconds with his hollow leg."

"Can I help?" Megaman asked.

"Of course!"

Megaman pumped his fist in the air before joining Airisu in managing the heating controls.

"That's right, nice and gentle." Airisu smiled, helping guide Megaman through some of the steps. They had done this plenty of times but he was still perfecting it.

Megaman nodded, following along.

"Hey, Lan!" Megaman called out. "First navi to ever be developed for maintaining the peace and organization of the net?"

"Pharaohman!" Lan grinned, taking another bite of his food. "Designed by Dr. Albert Wiley. He was also the fourth personalized navi to ever be built."

"And the first?" Airisu called.

"Megaman X, designed by Dr. Tadashi Hikari, AKA X. A war veteran in his own right too." Lan smirked. "And a research navi now for SciLabs."

Megaman chuckled.

"That one was easy. First navi to be used for net battling as a whole as part of the current line?"

At this, Lan sighed, throwing his head back.

"The undefeated Protoman… Who I swear, if I ever meet his netop, I'm gonna defeat him!"

"One day, but later on." Megaman smirked. "I want a chance to beat him too, don't worry."

Airisu giggled.

"You boys and your net battling. I have no doubts you'll be champions one day. You did well in the local tournaments the last few years."

"Yeah, though not with a few blows to our pride." Lan rubbed the back of his neck. "Not all was great."

"But, we're getting there." Megaman grinned.

"News report!"

Megaman looked behind him and Airisu to see a Mr. Prog behind them, a hologram screen floating in front of him.

"Would you like to listen or ignore?" Mr. Prog asked.

The screen projected a "yes" and "no" option.

Megaman looked to Airisu.

"Yes, please." Airisu looked back at her work. "I want to see if they have any updates on a situation I've been following."

Megaman raised an eyebrow at this before hitting the "yes" option, taking the screen from Mr. Prog.

"Have a nice day!"

Mr. Prog floated away before disappearing into bits of data.

"Okay, let's see…" Megaman started looking through the reports. "We have three articles… One for about the latest game from Blaze Tech… Another for something about rumors of the shady place that is the Undernet…" Megaman's eyes widened at the last one. "Oven Fires?"

"Play that one out, please." Airisu requested.

Megaman got a worried look before choosing the article, a new screen popping up, showing a reporter wearing a frog cap of sorts.

"Hello and good morning ACDC Town! I am Kero Midorikawa AKA Ribitta reporting to you live with my co-host navi, ToadMan!"

"Kero! Hello!" Toadman cheered, waving at the screen.

"This morning's report is about the mysterious oven fires that have been plaguing our dear city. Numerous people have been reporting that their ovens have been going up in smoke with no known cause, creating multiple house fires in the process." She read off her tablet. "Thankfully, no casualties have been reported, but a fair deal of people have been injured as a result and two houses have been burnt completely to the ground. It is highly recommended that you have your oven serviced. We'll keep reporting as the story develops."

"Kero! And don't forget your net navis can investigate as well to keep an eye on things!"

"I see… So, it's still going on."Airisu frowned. "Well, guess I'll be doing triple checks this week."

Megaman frowned as well.

"Do you want help?"

Airisu gave a small smile.

"No, no, I got it. You worry about your duties and I'll worry about mine. I'm the caretaker of the house and you're the caretaker of Lan."

He smiled a little.

"Right. Just be careful."

She patted his head, giving him a reassuring look.

"No worries. While I don't fight as often as you do, I'm no pushover."

"Okay."

Lan glanced up from his food, looking to his mother.

"Maybe it wouldn't hurt to have someone look at the oven. Take some of the load off Airisu."

"Already having someone stop by while you're at school." Haruka ruffled his hair before checking the time. "Speaking of, you two better get going. Finish your breakfast."

Lan quickly finished off his food, aiming his PET at the screen.

"We'll see you guys later then!"

Megaman waved before he jacked out, reappearing in the PET.

"One last cram session on the way?"

Lan bolted for the door, slipping his shoes on as he did so.

"You know it!"

oooooo

Lan heaved a sigh of relief as he left his history class. He swore, sometimes, he thought he was never going to finish that test with his sanity intact.

"Please, please tell me that's it for the day."

Megaman pulled up a schedule.

"That's the last test for the day and last class so… looks like you're clear in that regard. Only other thing of note is… What time is it right now?"

"3:15 PM."

"Okay, good, we'll be on time then. We have a meet up with Mayl in the music room at 3:45 PM. She said she wanted to show you her latest piece."

"Oh, right, I promised her." Lan rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, better get a move on. We both know how she gets when we keep her waiting."

"You mean like that time with the noodle store-"

"Ap ap ap. We don't speak of that!" Lan put a finger to the screen of the PET where Megaman's mouth was. "We had very important things to do that day!"

Megaman crossed his arms.

"Yeah, you losing twenty zenny to Tori and Iceman."

"Shhh!" Lan picked up the pace. "Last I checked, your record wasn't so clean either. Who missed by like an inch trying to push Roll outta the way in Virus Busting Class today?"

Megaman put both hands over his face.

"_ROLL LOOK OUT-!"_

"_METTOOOOOOO!"_

_THUD!_

"That mettaur hit her right on the head…"

"Mm-hm. Least she forgave ya."

"By throwing it at MY face."

_Yeah, that's Roll for ya. Like net navi like netop, she's fierce._

He soon found the music room, slowing down as he heard soft piano music coming from it. He put a finger to his lips before peering through the crack in the door.

_Early as always…_

Mayl had her back to the door, her fingers flying across the keys, her PET propped up on its stand on top of the piano.

Lan smiled, waiting until she was finished before knocking.

"Come in…" She called, looking behind her, her brown eyes lighting up at the sight of him. "Lan!"

He waved, walking up to her, warmth in his eyes.

"Hey you! Hope I didn't keep you waiting for long."

She made room for him on the piano bench, letting him sit next to her.

"Nah, was just warming up."

"I heard… What song was that?" He asked.

She smirked.

"Shelter. Someone translated it into the sheet music so I wanted to try."

"Ah, I see." He placed his PET besides hers before turning to her fully. "Sorry about what happened in class."

"I think that's between Megaman and Roll more than you and me." She giggled. "But don't worry."

"Thanks." He smiled. "How're your hands?"

"Not sore today. I really overdid it the other night." She grinned sheepishly.

_That hadn't been my best moment._

"_Ooow!"_

"_Easy, Mayl, easy. Just hang on, lemme grab the ice."_

"_Uuugh next time I get the bright idea to go for three hours, smack me."_

"_No smacking, just giving "The Look". Deal?"_

"_... Deal."_

Lan sighed in relief.

"Good… So, how about it?"

Her eyes lit up once more, a bright smile on her face.

_I always love seeing her happy…_

Lan fell quiet as she began to play, the piece unfamiliar to him but he was content to listen, watching her play.

Her eyes closed as her hands deftly moved across the keys as her song echoed through the empty music room.

_So talented…_

He propped his chin up, a warm look in his eyes. Spending time with her was something he always enjoyed, even just sitting like this while hearing her songs.

Inside the PETs, Megaman was listening, more so watching as Roll swayed to the music. He fiddled with his fingers before poking her.

"Hm?"

"I really am sorry about earlier."

She waved him off.

"We were even with that awhile ago. Don't worry about it."

"Still… Can I make it up to you?"

Roll tilted her head.

Megaman bowed a little.

"May I have this dance?"

Roll smiled, a gentle look in her eyes before they started to follow along to the music.

The two fell into step quickly, enjoying themselves, their netops doing the same.

All was right in the world of them.

Just as it should be.


	5. Spark of Trouble

"Hm…" Yuichiro put a hand to his chin, looking over the report in front of him. "This is bizarre…"

"Yep. As we've both said many times before." Zero crossed his arms. "Only conclusion I'm coming to is that it has to be a net navi letting those viruses into ovens. Viruses of the variety that have been reported aren't exactly common. Not to mention they would need help to wreak havoc like they have."

"Yes… only problem is we don't have evidence of such being the case." Yuichiro ran a hand through his hair. "Which the Net Police do not want to hear for the umpthteenth time. And the other thing is… why though? I know solo navis can be mischievous but they usually keep to themselves, they don't interact that much with humans unless provoked. They have nothing to gain with doing harm however. So… if anything, it would have to be a navi and netop causing the problem… but again… we don't know who… and we don't even know if that is the case. For all we know it's just an increase in virus population."

_And goodness knows we've dealt with solo navis who thought they were tough before..._

"Ugh… my circuits hurt."

"You two should head home."

Yuichiro jumped, whirling behind him to see a net navi that was dressed in blue armor and had a labcoat on. To anyone else, it would be shocking to see a net navi walking in the real world. To Yuichiro, especially with this particular navi, this was nothing to be alarmed by.

He brought a hand over his heart.

"X, a little more warning before speaking, eh?"

X chuckled, crossing his arms.

"Not possible with how engrossed you get with your computer."

"Ehehe? And no, X, we still have work to do."

X narrowed his eyes.

"Then at the very least take a break. You've been analyzing that Net Police data for hours. Don't ruin your eyes more than they already are."

Yuichiro gave a flat look, adjusting his glasses.

"Haha, very funny."

"You know I love you, Little Bro."

"Yeah, yeah, you too. Seriously though, I can't put this down." Yuichiro narrowed his eyes. "It wouldn't be-"

"Responsible of you to pass out on the floor and have Haruka, Hub and Lan worried sick." X cut in. "Go. Home."

Zero gave his own stern look.

"We wouldn't hear the end of it from Haruka and Airisu."

Yuichiro threw his hands up.

"Alright, alright, I get the picture. Zero and I will pack up and go home."

X nodded.

"And just so you don't get any ideas. " He gave a flick of his hand, the data screen going right to him. "I'll be taking this and looking it over myself."

"Fine, fine." Yuichiro jacked out Zero, powering off his computer. "Haruka's cooking sounds nice anyway."

Ping ping!

"Hey, Yuichiro, there's an email for you." Zero gave a perplexed expression as he looked at it. "Huh? That's weird."

"Hm? What is it?"

"It just… a message with an image on it. A "W" with a "3" under it." Zero showed it on the monitor of the PET. "Does that mean anything to you?"

Yuichiro looked at it carefully.

"No…" Yuichiro showed it to X. "Any thoughts?"

X put a hand to his chin.

"Hm… I don't believe it matches any logos I know in my database but I will look into it." X pulled up another screen, copying the logo onto it. "I'll report when I find out what it means as soon as possible."

"Thank you, X." Yuichiro closed the email, putting Zero's PET into its holder, stretching. "Make sure Mikhail and Genji don't blow up SciLabs while I'm out."

"Yes, yes." X gave a wave of his hand. "Aile and Vent will help keep them and their navis in line. Now. Go. Home. Before I lock you out of your computer."

"Yeesh, don't need to come for my life, X."

Yuichiro left without another word, leaving X alone in the lab area. The navi shook his head, chuckling.

"Some things just never change."

"_Yuichiro, go to bed."_

"_But brother! I'm almost got this code cracked-"_

"_Bed. Now. Or I'm locking your PET."_

"_Okay! Okay!"_

X looked at the logo again. It seemed familiar but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. All he knew, was seeing it, made his circuits go slightly cold.

_And I'm not sure why… but I'm going to find out._

oooooo

"Hm…" Lan narrowed his eyes at the screen. "I wonder…"

Megaman was waiting patiently, checking the house's network for anything odd. It was looking to be one of their usual evenings.

_He's been at this for about an hour… Calling it now, snack break in five seconds._

Lan drummed his fingers on his desk, mumbling a bit under his breath.

"What's wrong?"

"This… stupid… coding homework! No matter what I do, the rig breaks!"

Megaman winced.

"I told you to skip that class until next semester but you insisted."

"Ap ap! No. We are not doing this." Lan took a deep breath, grabbing up his PET. "We're getting a snack."

"Knew it." Megaman crossed his arms. "Though you better not eat too much. Your mom's coming home in a little while, right?"

"Yeah, grocery shopping with Airisu-"

Lan stopped at the top of the stairs, eyes going wide in alarm. There was smoke drifting up through the hall that lead to the kitchen.

Before Megaman could warn him against it, he was down the stairs, grabbing up the fire extinguisher.

_Oh, please tell me it's not-_

"Lan, careful, the oven!"

Just as he feared, the oven was engulfed in a raging inferno that was starting to spread to other areas of the kitchen, the flames drawing closer to the wooden cabinets above the stove.

He started spraying down the fire with the extinguisher.

_Soon as this is out I'm checking that chip…_

Lan broke into a small coughing fit from the smoke, but it wasn't long until the fire was subdued but it was still threatening to grow in size again.

"Megaman?" He asked, lifting his PET up. "Care to find out what's causing this?"

He nodded, a serious look coming to his gaze.

"On it."

Lan quickly jacked Megaman into the oven's system.

"Jack in! Megaman power UP!"

Megaman soon appeared in the oven's mainframe, eyes widening in alarm at system being up in flames and the amount of viruses present that were tearing it apart. CanDevil and Meataur viruses to be exact.

_Oh… heck no._

Megaman held out his arm, it transforming into his MegaBuster.

"Get out of my house, you viruses!"

Megaman started blasting away, deleting viruses left and right. As each one was destroyed, the flames started lower bit by bit.

_Come on, almost there!_

Megaman took out one last virus, the flames soon dying out. The net navi let out a sigh of relief… though perked up as he noticed there were still some flames present in a part of the mainframe. He looked over, noticing a shadow amongst the flames.

Megaman squinted his eyes, trying to make out what it was. It looked like it could possibly be a net navi but he wasn't entirely sure. He moved a little closer, though stopped as a voice was heard.

"Stay out of the way, blue boy or get burned."

The figure faded and as did the flames, leaving Megaman alone in the system.

"What was that…?"

Megaman shook his head.

_I'll worry about it later._

"Lan?" Megaman called out. "How are things on your end?"

"Fires out." Lan answered. "Is the mainframe clear?"

"Yeah. You can jack me out now… Though maybe I should stay, just in case."

"Good idea."

Lan slumped against the counter, sliding down to the floor.

"That was too close…"

"Lan!?"

Lan perked up, seeing both his parents now present, mortified looks on their faces.

"Oh… hey…" Lan gave a sheepish look. "Um… I can explain…?"

Haruka an Yuichiro ran right to Lan, bringing him into their arms.

"Are you okay? Any injuries? Did you breathe in too much smoke?" Haruka started to ask, rapid fire.

Airisu appeared in the oven's mainframe, immediately giving Megaman the same treatment.

"Any damaged data? Broken main frame? Cyber burns?"

"Mom/Airisu I'm fine, really!"

"Lan/Mega!"

The boys both groaned, letting them finish looking them over.

"I promise, we're okay." Megaman insisted. "Lan didn't get too much smoke and neither did I. And I didn't get burned."

"Neither did I."

Airisu and Haruka both sighed before they pulled the two close to them.

"Just don't scare us again." Haruka kissed her son's head, holding him tighter. "I'm glad you put the fire out but next time, please just run out of the house. Whatever is in here isn't worth your life."

"Mom…"

Yuichiro ruffled his hair, giving him a gentle look.

"You did good, kiddo. You took care of things."

Lan looked up, smiling sheepishly.

"I tried." He sighed in relief, slumping against his mother a little. "Though… something tells me we're not having dinner any time soon, huh?"

"Oh you." Haruka ruffled his hair.

"To be fair, that whole thing interrupted my mid homework snack!"

"We'll clean this up and order in tonight." Haruka glanced at the oven, narrowing her eyes. "And… Airisu? Care to write me up a "lovely" email for that company that was supposed to service the oven?"

"Already ripping them a new one!" She called, typing with one hand on a data screen, her other arm still around Megaman.

"Airisu…"

"Just a minute!"

Zero appeared, looking around the system, eyes wide.

"Oh dear… Hey, Yuichiro? Remember that report we were looking over?" Zero brought up a screen, showing the mainframe to Yuichiro. "Look familiar?"

Yuichiro frowned, nodding.

"Yeah, it does. Almost an exact match to the photos we were given by the Net Police."

"Huh?"

Lan and Megaman gave Yuichiro and Zero confused looks. Both gave a wave of their hands.

"We'll talk about it later. Right now, our main priority is keeping our home safe." Yuichiro said.

"Yep… besides." Zero smirked. "Airisu is not going to be letting go for awhile.

Megaman pouted.

"Airisu…"

She brought both arms around him, kissing his head.

"You're my baby, let me fuss."

He let out a long sigh.

"Okaaaay."

"That's my little boy."

Megaman shrugged.

"Guess I'm not helping Lan with his homework tonight."

Immediately, Lan looked to his father, with a puppy eyed look.

"Uh… X told me to take it easy tonight."

"Uncle X doesn't get to decide what happens during that though." Lan whimpered a little. "And I almost died."

"Gah! L-Lan no that'd be irresponsible-"

"I could've had smoke inhalation… or gotten burned."

Yuichiro flinched, before he hung his head.

"Okay, okay! Emotional blackmail… It works!"

"Yes! Thanks Dad, you're the best!"

_Besides… get his mind off of what happened…_

Yuichiro started to lead Lan upstairs, glancing back at the kitchen with a curious look.

_I just hope this isn't a sign of things to come…_


	6. From the Shadows

"Zero?"

Zero looked up from the report he was reading over, seeing Megaman was in front of him.

He had a worried look in his eyes, wringing his hands.

"Can I talk to you about something?"

Zero moved the data screen away, giving a nod.

"What's on your mind?"

"It's about the fire earlier. When I was done putting it out, something… weird happened." Megaman started. "You and Dad were really concerned earlier so… I thought if I told you it might help." He looked away, frowning.

"Tell me everything."

He took a deep breath.

"I saw something in the last of the flames. It was a figure and I heard someone telling me to watch myself before I got burned." He explained, "After that you guys came home."

Zero narrowed his eyes, concern coming to them.

"You didn't see any specific details?"

Megaman shook his head.

"No… but will that help a little?"

"It'll help a lot. Just… be careful, alright?"

"I will." He sighed in relief. "Just glad Lan didn't get hurt… I don't think I'd forgive myself if… y'know."

Zero tilted his chin up, a gentle look in his eyes.

"I know, Son. He's alright and so are you… Now." He smirked a little. "I think you're up past your recharge time."

"Zeeerroooo!"

oooooo

"Whoa, you went through that yesterday?"

"Yeah." Lan rubbed the back of his neck.

It was the next day at school. It was almost like nothing had ever happened the other day but yet… Lan knew it did. As did Megaman.

He was currently at lunch, sitting with his friends, Mayl, Tori, Dex and Yai, at a table outside the school.

"Man, I don't know what I would've done if that had happened at my house." Tori said, munching on part of his meal. "I think I probably would've panicked."

"I would've gone in guns blazing." Dex brought a fist up. "Nothing scares me!"

"Cat bot in fifth grade." Lan and Tori both deadpanned as he winced.

"One thing! Doesn't count since that thing was rigged!"

"Just sayin." Lan took a bite of his lunch.

"Hmph. They would've had to try harder than that to start trouble at my place." Yai huffed. "Our security's top notch!"

"Yeah but didn't yours cost like a billion zenny…?"

"That's cheap!"

"For the Ayano family… But yeah, it was crazy. Just glad it didn't spread."

"No kidding." Mayl moved a little closer to Lan, rubbing shoulders with him a little. "So glad you're safe."

Lan blushed a bit at this.

"M-Mayl…"

"Oooooo." Tori smirked.

"Not. One. Word." Lan hissed.

He cleared his throat.

"Anyways… You wanna hang out later today, Mayl? Maybe the park? I got some new skate tricks I wanna try out."

"After 4 would be a good time." Mayl smiled. "I have to practice piano the minute I get home from school."

"Oooo! Can I come too?" Yai asked. "I could get us top notch ice cream!"

"Sure thing! We haven't hung out as a group in awhile, so, why not? Maybe we could have a battle royale with our navis."

"Lan!" Megaman hissed. "You said you'd stop doing those."

"Aww but they're fun. Right guys?"

"Yeah!" Everyone cheered.

The navis on the other side all gave a bit of a sigh.

"We'll make the best of it." Roll smiled. "Besides, we don't have to do hardcore."

"Indeed. We can take it nice and easy." Glide, Yai's navi, smiled. "We can even just bust hologram viruses instead of going against each other."

"Awww but Gutsman loves doing navi to navi, guts." Dex's navi, Gutsman whined.

"Yeah, but then that winds up with being used as a projectile!" Tori's navi, Iceman, protested. "I'd rather fight the holo viruses!"

"We'll just have to see how it goes at the park." Megaman chuckled, folding his arms behind his head. "You know how they get. Once they start planning, there's no stopping it."

_Hey, long as it keeps Lan distracted then it's all good._

"Then we have ourselves a deal!" Lan raised a fist in the air. "Fun at the park for everyone!"

"Yeah!"

oooooo

_I know I've seen this symbol somewhere before… Come on there's gotta be something._

_W3… It means something._

X brought a hand to his chin, frustrated with his lack of results in his search to find an answer for the weird symbol that had appeared in Yuichiro's email.

_And on top of that, his home was a victim of the fires going around… I have to wonder if they're connected._

"Commander X! We're back and ready to report!"

X looked behind him, seeing two net navis behind that were practically twins in appearance, save for minor differences.

"Ah, Aile, Vent, report."

Both saluted.

"We went looking through the email streams like you asked and we found numerous emails that matched Professor Hikari's."

Vent pulled out a screen, showing all the emails they had found.

"Too many to count. And the stranger thing, all who have received these emails thus far were victims of the fire epidemic going around."

"So, they were marked." X narrowed his eyes. "They could track where to strike via the home's IP address and then strike the ovens system from there."

"Yessir."

"However, that doesn't answer the question of who they are. Can you keep looking into it for me?"

The twins saluted.

"Sir yes sir!"

"At ease." X gave a salute of his own. "Keep me updated on progress in the search."

They nodded before logging out back onto the internet.

He sighed, looking to the screens around him, before starting another set of scans.

_There has to be something… W3… The fires… The email that marks the targets…_

_I just hope we get to the bottom of this before someone gets killed._

He narrowed his eyes. As far as he was concerned, they were already top priority to take down. They had targeted his family.

_Even if I'm not blood, I'm still part of the Hikari family. I'll do whatever it takes to protect them._

_I'm not a soldier anymore but it doesn't mean I can't fight._

There was a large THUD behind him as he caught the reflection of a younger navi in similar build to him.

"What happened this time, Axl?"

"I need backups for Mikhail's computer. The rig broke again." He grinned sheepishly. "Got any spares?"

X shook his head. He couldn't be mad. Axl was still relatively new to the errand boy job between his other duties.

"I got them right here-... Axl?"

"Hm?"

"Has Mikhail gotten any emails that look like this?" X pulled up the symbol, showing it to him. "Think carefully."

Axl shook his head, confusion in his eyes.

"I'd definitely remember that. Some spam and one that was hiding a Mettaur riding on a popup but that was it. Nothing like that though!"

"I see. Very well, carry on… and try not to get into trouble."

"H-Hey! I've been really good lately!"

"Regardless."

Axl sighed, giving a salute.

"Yes sir. Now, spares?"

X nodded, sending over a data package to the navi.

"Keep it safe now and don't trip on the way out."

"I won't!"

Axl left without another word.

X chuckled before focusing again.

_W3… W3…_

_Wait…_

X eyes' widened.

_No… It… It couldn't be._

oooooo

It was dark in the room he found himself in, barely lit by the monitors that were scattered about the area. It wasn't dark enough to be blind but it was dark enough to not make out details.

While Mr. Match couldn't see the features of his boss, he could tell he was less than amused with his report.

"You were defeated by a simple navi?" He asked, irritation in his voice.

"I don't know if I would call it a simple net navi, Lord Wylie." Mr. Match kept his stance strong. "This one was different… and I believe this one might be of interest to you."

"Oh? What makes you think that?"

Mr. Match pulled out his PET.

"Torchman, show him what you saw."

"Right away, sir."

A holoscreen appeared in front of Mr. Match, showing the image of a net navi that was dressed in blue armor that had teal and yellow highlights. The screen floated up to Lord Wylie, giving him a good look at the navi.

"That crest that navi has on its chest. That's the Hikari symbol, isn't it?"

He sneered.

"Indeed it is… So, this is where they've been hiding all this time." He looked to Mr. Match. "You're forgiven this time. However, next time won't end so well. Got it?"

"Yes sir. What are your next orders?"

"If you see this navi again… Delete him."

Mr. Match nodded.

"Understood, Lord Wylie."

"Good. You're dismissed."

Mr. Match gave a bow before leaving.

Lord Wylie grinned as he looked at the image of the blue net navi, a slight chuckle escaping him.

_So… This is the magnum opus of Dr. Yuichiro Hikari._

"Hmph… Pharaohman. Save this on file."

"Yes, Lord Wylie."

The image closed, Lord Wylie chuckling again.

_Let's see how good you are._

_Megaman._


	7. Flame War

"Yahoo!"

Lan laughed as he flew through the air, doing a spin before landing back on the ground, gliding across the smooth walkway of the park on his skates.

"Haha! That was definitely higher than the last one!" Lan grinned, looking to his friends. "What do you guys think?"

"For sure. Not a bad jump there." Tori grinned. "Bet you can go higher though."

"You wanna bet on that-"

"NO!" Megaman interrupted him from the PET. "You lost 20 zenny last time!"

"And that's why." Tori snickered a little. "Right guys?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Oh, thank you so much for the vote of confidence."

Lan shook his head, rolling over to the table they were all sitting at. He frowned, noting Mayl still wasn't present yet.

"Hey, Mega, what time is it?" he asked, pulling out his PET.

Megaman pulled up a clock, showing the time to Lan.

"It is currently 4:05 PM."

"And she's still not here…" Lan sighed.

"It's only 5 minutes, Lan." Yai reasoned. "Besides, she said any time after 4 so that could mean anything."

"Still…"

"Awww, do you wanna sweep her off her feet Lan?" Tori teased. "Like a knight navi in shining armor?"

"Protecting the fair lady?" Dex joined in, elbowing Lan.

The boy turned bright red, stammering like crazy.

"T-That's not-I-I… We-We're not-"

"How long have you two been friends? Since pre-school?"

"Earlier. Since they were like 2-"

"Megaman you are NOT helping! And stop listening to Zero's old stories anyways!"

"Ooooo!"

"ANYWAYS!" Lan gave a mad huff. "I just don't want her to miss out on the fun."

"She'll get here when she gets here." Yai winked. "In the meantime, you could do a net battle with Dex to get your mind off it. I brought the prototype portable holo rings my dad is working on at his company."

All the boys' eyes grew wide.

"No way!" Tori beamed.

"For real!?" Dex stood up straight. "The immersive ones!?"

Yai smirked, leaning over, bringing up a rectangular bag onto the table.

"Yep. The ones that allow you step right into the cyberworld and experience the battle right before you. It's supposed to help netops be better insync with their net navis during battle, thus enhancing battle capabilities. Long as you brought your visor headsets, it should be able to work perfectly."

Lan grinned, pulling out his set from his backpack, a green tinted visor with a microphone attached to it.

"Megaman and I are always prepared."

"Gutsman and I are always ready to kick Lan's butt." Dex smirked, pulling out a red tinted visor.

"Suuure." Lan grinned, putting it on. "Man this is gonna be cool."

Yai set up the holo rings before stepping aside.

"The usual rules apply of course. May the best netbattler win!"

Lan and Dex stood on opposite ends of the ring, both grinning as they readied their PETs.

"Alright, let's do this!" Lan aimed his PET at the port that was put at the center of the ring. "Jack in, Megaman, power up!"

"Let's show 'em who's boss!" Dex grinned, doing the same as Lan. "Jack in, Gutsman, power up!"

Within moments, the ring activated, a cybernetic duplicate of the park appearing around not only Dex and Lan, but also around the spectators. Yai grinned at Tori's reaction.

"How far does this thing reach?" he asked.

"To the corners of the rings. I made sure to include us as well so we could watch." Yai put on a fancy visor that was tinted gold. "One of the other things Father is trying to do is make sure there is more audience interaction. You know, more fun for everyone. On top of that."

Glyde appeared next to her.

"More time with your navis."

Iceman appeared on the table, next to Tori.

"See?"

"Whoa! Cool!" Tori grinned, looking to his navi. "Nice to see you in person, Iceman."

"Same to you."

They tried to share a fist bump, though sighed as their hands went right through each other.

"Unfortunately, don't forget these are not solid holograms. Not quite there yet."

"Soon though, right?"

"Hopefully." Her eyes narrowed. "And hopefully before Blaze Tech Games figures it out first."

Glyde shook his head.

"There, there, Young Miss. You'll get them eventually."

Tori shook his head.

"Glad to see the rivalry still presses on, I guess." Tori turned his attention to the battle that was about to begin.

Gutsman and Megaman were in the position to start, both having eager looks on their faces.

"Ready?" Megaman asked.

"Born ready, guts!" Gustman answered.

Lan and Dex grinned at each other, their battle chips ready.

Soon as the signal sounded for them to start, the battle began.

"Get'em, Gutsman!"

Gustman beat on his chest before charging at Megaman, trying to punch him in the face. Megaman jumped away quickly, flying high in the air.

"Hey, Lan. Sword?"

"You got it." Lan grinned. "Cyber sword, battle chip in, download!"

Megaman's right forearm morphed into a glowing blue sword as he came back down, aiming it right at Gutsman.

Gutsman ran for it, only barely making it out with just a slight slash on his back, knocking him to the ground.

"Ow! Guts!"

"Nice!" Lan cheered. "Get him again, Mega!"

"Not so fast!" Dex put a chip in. "Barrier, battle chip in, download!"

"Oh, bits-"

Megaman didn't have a chance to back down from his attack as he was sent flying from the barrier that formed around Gutsman that he hit with his sword instead of the navi.

"UWAH!"

"Mega!"

Thud!

"Ow…" Megaman was flat on his back, an unamused look on his face. "Not… my best move."

"Get up, get up!"

Megaman stood up, dusting himself off before getting back into position.

"Ha! Rookie mistake!"

"Last I checked you did that too!" Lan scoffed. "Try this! Blaster Battle Chip in, download!"

Megaman's arm morphed into a blaster, taking aim before firing directly at Gutsman.

"YAH!"

"Oh, guts."

Gutsman was sent flying, landing right in front Dex with a loud resounding thud, a cloud of dust forming around him.

"NO! GUTSMAN!"

"Ha! Alright Mega! Let's finish him off!" Lan went to put in one last battle chip. "Neo varia sword battle chip in-"

"SOMEONE HELP!"

Everyone froze up as Roll appeared in the center of the arena, panic in the net navi's green eyes.

"Roll!?" everyone exclaimed.

Megaman and Gutsman hurried over to her, dissipating their weapons.

"What's going on?" Megaman asked.

Roll made a screen appear, showing a scene that was completely engulfed in smoke and flames… and Mayl was right in the middle of it, coughing into her hand.

"Mayl!" everyone cried out.

"It was the oven at her home." Roll explained, trying to keep a calm composure, despite the tears in her eyes. "It burst into flames and the whole house filled with smoke within seconds. Mayl is having a hard time getting out and I'm not sure when the fire department will arrive."

"Then we're on our way." Lan narrowed his eyes. "Megaman, go to the server and clear out the viruses. If it's what happened with ours yesterday than you know what to do."

"Right."

"Iceman you go too!"

"You too Glyde! We'll be there as fast as we can!"

_Just hang in there Mayl._

Lan took off with the others, close behind him.

_We're on our way!_

ooooo

The viruses were running amuck all over the mainframe, causing damage to it and feeding the cyber flames that were growing rapidly.

"You know… I never thought I'd hate seeing mettaurs so much." Megaman remarked, firing a blast at two of them. "Hey, get outta here, you free loaders!"

"Metto!"

"GUTSPUNCH!"

"ICE BREATH!"

Gutsman and Iceman were working around the area to contain the flames with their abilities, while Glyde, Megaman and Roll focused on deleting viruses.

"Take this!" Roll fired arrows at the viruses around her. "Roll Arrow!"

"The virus numbers are dropping fast." Glyde reported, the navi currently flying over the system with his wings. "We should be able to put out the fire soon."

"Good." Megaman looked to Roll. "Any report on Mayl?"

Roll pulled up her monitor again, panic coming to her eyes at seeing the young girl on the floor, trying her best not to breathe in smoke.

"Still trapped. I hope the others get their soon. I'm not sure how much longer she's going to hold out."

"I'm sure they'll get there soon. The most we can do right now is just get this fire out." Megaman narrowed his eyes. "Which with a few more blasts we should be done-"

Megaman and Roll were sent flying in different directions in a matter of seconds as a ball of fire hit the ground next to them, blowing the area into bits. They landed hard, rolling for a moment before stopping.

They both let out groans, rubbing their heads.

"What was that?" Megaman asked.

"Over there!" Glyde pointed.

They followed his finger, seeing a net navi standing on top of a digital structure. The navi had red and tan armor on, with blue and yellow accents. It had flames coming out of the top of its head and shoulders.

Their amber eyes gleamed with amusement at seeing the downed navis, a smirk to match.

"Good to see you again, Megaman." They crossed their arms. "This means I can get two missions done with one flame."

Megaman growled.

"You… Who the heck are you? And why this?" He gestured to the area around them. "You're gonna kill a girl if this keeps up!"

"Doesn't matter to me. I just do what my boss tells me… and that includes deleting you."

"That's not an answer." He growled, charging.

_That's it!_

_He tried to burn my house down and now he's gonna kill Mayl if this keeps up._

The navi chuckled, jumping down from the structure.

"I'll make this quick."

As soon as they landed, fire burst around them, trapping Megaman and the navi in a barrier of fire, barring others from reaching them.

"Megaman!" Everyone shouted.

Megaman looked around him, startled.

"W-What?"

"I'm not dumb, blue boy." the navi narrowed his eyes. "I wouldn't have a chance if I had to deal with five of you at once. So, best to narrow it down to one with my flame dome. Neither of us leaves till this battle is over."

Megaman growled, transforming his right arm into a Mega Buster.

"Data scum."

"Actually."

The navi turned one of his arms turned into a large fire blaster, pointing it at Megaman.

"The name is Torchman."


	8. Momentary Cease Fire

They were soon at Mayl's house. Smoke was pouring out the windows that were open, the area around the house hot.

Lan cursed a bit under his breath at seeing the fire department had yet to arrive.

_What's taking them so long!?_

He shook his mind of this, not hesitating to bolt towards the house.

"Lan! Wait!" Yai shouted. "It's not safe!"

"Don't make yourself a victim too, man!" Dex reasoned.

"Mayl's in there and I'm not going to leave her there for another second!" Lan took off his head band, wrapping it around his mouth, quickly putting on his net batling visor as well. "You guys wait out here! I'll be back!"

"LAN!"

Lan zoomed right into the house, ignoring his friends entirely.

His visor and headband helped provide protection for his mouth and eyes, but the heat of the area still seeped into his being. He ignored it though, looking around the area.

Near the staircase, barely conscious, was Mayl. She was wheezing, still trying to make her way to the front entrance by crawling but to no avail. She didn't have the strength.

Lan's eyes widened in alarm before bolting to her side.

"Mayl!"

She looked to him, a dazed look in her eyes, reaching up at him, coughing up a storm.

He lifted her up, looping an arm over his shoulder.

"I'm gonna get you outta here, okay?" He told her, hurrying for the door.

_She's in rough shape… Whoever did this, they're gonna pay now!_

"L-Lan…?"

"Don't talk. Wait till we're outside for that."

Mayl closed her eyes, her head slumping forward a little. Lan picked up the pace, nearly throwing themselves outside as he did so.

"M-Mayl! Don't do this to me! Stay awake!"

Within seconds, they were outside, smoke pluming out the door they exited through.

Their friends rushed over to them soon as they were far enough away from the house, coming to their aide.

"Oh, thank the maker you guys are okay!" Yai covered her mouth at seeing Mayl. "She is okay, right?"

"Yeah, just…" Lan coughed a bit, lowering his headband from his mouth. "A little roughed up is all." Lan looked down at her. "Right, Mayl?"

Mayl opened her eyes, nodding a little.

"M'okay…" She coughed a little, relieved to just be outside and away from the smoke. "Just really outta it."

"You're lucky Roll found us so fast."

She smiled tiredly.

"That's Roll for ya." She looked to Lan. "You okay?"

"Yep! Takes more than that to take me down." He pulled his PET out of the holder. "You rest up. I got something to finish."

"Make them pay. My piano's gonna reek of smoke now if it doesn't burn."

Lan nodded, handing Mayl to Dex.

"Take care of her, guys."

"Wait, Lan what-"

Lan brought his headband over his mouth again, heading back inside.

"That idiot." Yai muttered. "What is he doing!?"

Lan hurried to the kitchen area, stumbling back a bit at how wild the flames of the oven were. They were starting to spread to other areas of the kitchen.

_We need to act fast._

Lan looked to his PET, seeing Megaman was locked in combat with another net navi.

_Who the heck is that!?_

Lan shook his head.

_Nevermind, I'll find out sooner or later. Right now, Megaman needs help!_

Lan pointed his PET at the oven's jack in port, connecting instantly with Megaman.

_Hang on, I'm coming!_

oooooo

Megaman was sent flying by a blast of fire, the navi rolling across the digital space floor. He groaned, getting up on one knee.

He glared back at his opponent, a growl building up in his throat.

Torchman smirked, tossing a ball of fire up and down in hand.

"Come on, I know you're better than this, Blue Boy." Torchman chuckled. "What happened to the excellent net battler from last time?"

Megaman growled.

"Shut up."

_I don't have my netop, that's the problem!_

Torchman smirked.

"I'll make your deletion quick."

He threw the fireball at Megaman, the flame growing in size as it rushed at him.

Megaman braced himself, lowering his head.

_Lan!_

"Barrier! Battle chip in! DOWNLOAD!"

The barrier rose up around him in the nick of time as the fireball fizzled out against it. Megaman heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Lan!" He forced himself to his feet, panting a little. "Ready to finish this?"

"Born ready. Let's make it fast."

"Oh, so it's gonna be interesting now?" Torchman grinned. "Finally. Let's turn up the heat!"

Torchman's arms both shifted into fire blasters, pointing them at Megaman.

"Oh no you don't." Lan quickly loaded more battle chips into the PET. "Area steal and cyber sword, battle chips in, download!"

Megaman's right arm shifted to a sword as he moved out of the range of the fire blasters, disappearing from plain view.

"What!?" Torchman looked around, trying to spot the net navi. "Show yourself you coward!"

"As you wish!"

It was a split second before Megaman reappeared, slicing one of Torchman's arms clean off, the arm dissipating into bits after hitting the ground.

"AUGH!" He growled. "Why you-" He fired another blast at Megaman. "You'll burn for this!"

Megaman dodged, rolling out of the way.

"Hm, nope!"

"Let's finish this! Blaster battle chip in! Download!"

Megaman's arm, transformed from his sword back into a blaster, firing at Torchman aiming for his remaining arm.

"This is for my house and for Mayl!"

Before it could hit, Torchman disappeared from view.

A brief "logout" icon appeared as he did so.

Megaman frowned, lowering his blaster.

"That… was weird."

_That was a fast logout too. Maverick navis can't do it THAT fast._

The flames around Megaman disappeared, along with the flames in the system.

It was all quiet now.

"Megaman!"

Megaman nearly toppled over as he was tackled hug by Roll.

"You did it! You're okay!"

He smiled, bringing his arms around her, spinning her around.

"Aww Roll!"

She giggled, keeping close to him, relief in her eyes.

"Thank you so much."

His gaze softened, hugging her tighter.

"Anything for you and Mayl. I mean that."

_I just wonder what the heck this was all about… This is getting dangerous._

For now, he was just glad it was over.

Outside, Lan headed away from the house, pulling his headband away from his mouth.

"Whew!"

"Lan!"

He hurried over to his friends, yelping as Mayl threw her arms around him.

"You idiot!"

"H-Hey!"

She gave him a look before hugging him tighter, hiding her face a little.

"Thank you…" She whispered. "For saving me and my home."

"A-Anytime, Mayl." Lan brought his arms around her. "Anything for a friend…"

"Though next time, try not being so reckless, hm?" Yai smiled.

"Yeah, no need to go all Mr. Hero on us." Dex gave a slap on the back. "Save that for a different time."

"Or never." Tori commented.

Lan grinned sheepishly.

"Right, right." He kept Mayl close, taking a glance at his PET to see Megaman was alright, getting the same treatment he was from the other navis.

All could hear the sounds of firetrucks and ambulances heading their way.

Lan relaxed, closing his eyes.

_Let this be the end of this whole crisis._


	9. Preventive Measures

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice. It's really appreciated."

It had been awhile since X found himself in the digital command center of the Net Savers headquarters.

If he had his way, he would never have to come back to this place and forget it entirely.

Not because he had any animosity towards them or the work they did.

Far from that.

Rather… he just wished there could be peace for both humans and net navis.

_But alas… if there was always peace, then we wouldn't be able to appreciate it._

He was on a large platform with other navis around him, working at computer screens, projecting his face onto monitors that surrounded the area and onto monitors in the real world to the human leaders of the Net Savers.

X looked to the navis below him, a full assembly of well trained and well programmed security navis, all dressed in the iconic green and tan armor with the symbol of the Net Savers as their crests.

His eyes were drawn to the navis that stood on platforms above them. Four individuals who were various colors unlike the navis below. He was glad to see they were still functioning and still able to do their jobs of keeping the net safe for all in their own ways with their divisions.

_I need to remember to catch up with them later._

_They're family after all._

X took a deep breath, finding the words he needed to say.

"As you all know, there have been suspicions of rising net terrorism once more. While not as grand as the Great Cyber War from years past, it is still a pause for concern." X raised his hand. "My fellow navis, I fear an old enemy has returned."

On the screen, the symbol of a "w" with a "3" under it appeared.

"WWW has reared its ugly head once more."

There were looks of alarm, some getting an annoyed look.

"What is the current threat level?" One of the navis on the platforms asked, a serious look in their eyes. "Start the hunt or increase security?"

"Easy now, Commander Fefnir." X mainted a calm composure. "At the moment, we do not know how high of a level threat they are to the people. All we know is they are here to disturb the peace."

X changed the images of the screen, showing footage of the oven fires… and Megaman's battle with Torchman.

"The oven fire crisis has come to a halt. We haven't had any reports in the following weeks and it all stopped as soon as this fire based navi was defeated. And from what the navi you see here that defeated him reported, there was no chance this was a rogue navi. They logged out too quickly to be a rogue. I believe this navi is linked with WWW. Reason I say this, is everyone who was affected by the fires received an email with the WWW logo attached before they were struck by the crisis."

"Data scum.." Fefnir muttered under his breath. "Then we can start by tracking the remaining data. If WWW is marking targets before causing calamity, we can go through the IP addresses of those affected."

"We've attempted that after this incident. They were able to cloak their navi's movements." X narrowed his eyes. "They aren't playing by the same rules we do. However, that doesn't mean we're going to readily allow them to cause havoc either."

"Oooh I'd love to get that navi alone for a few minutes." A navi with a blue helmet that had a fin like attachments said, a small growl escaping her. "Just a few minutes in the cyber ocean."

"Easy now, Leviathan." X gave her a stern look. "That won't be needed."

_I hope._

"Then, what do you propose?"

"I propose that we tighten net security as well as deploy an agent in the area of the known attacks. On the net, that's our territory but private homes and public establishments have their own issues with being foreign terrain. I'm sure we all recall how bad some places got during the war."

The navis in attendance fell quiet, shifting uncomfortably. The war had not been easy on any of them.

To think, a new crisis was arising quickly… It was uneasy.

"Well, we're not going to send out just anyone." Leviathan gave X a curious look. "Who's going? I doubt SciLabs will want to loan out Aile and Vent."

"No, no we need them… I have someone else in mind… Or rather, two."

"Oh? Pray tell, X." The green navi on one of the platforms asked.

"Simple, Harpuia." X smiled. "Agents Grey and Ashe, present yourselves."

Two net navis appeared next to X, giving a salute.

"Reporting for duty!" They said in unison.

"These two will be able to search the more private areas without causing a disturbance. They are fast and efficient, very much like our own Aile and Vent. Also, the Net Savers will be deploying their undercover agents along with their navis." X looked to the 4th navi on the platform that was dressed in armor that was various shades of purple. "And Commander Phantom will be doing his own private investigations with his division."

Phantom remained quiet but gave a small nod.

"Other than that, security for Net City will be required to be on high alert. Net Savers, it'll be your duty to look out for any suspicious activity as you always do. Commanders, lead your divisions as you see fit and maintain the peace. Understood?"

"SIR YES SIR!"

"Perfect. I believe we're done here."

_Just let this go on without anything else happening to my own family… I don't know what we'd all do if anything targeted them again._

The live feed to the Net Savers headquarters was cut, as X allowed his stance to relax. He let out a sigh, rubbing the side of his helmet.

"Swear, that never gets easier."

"KYA!"

He yelped as he was tackled, falling back on the platform.

"LEVIATHAN!"

"I missed you!"

He chuckled, patting her head, looking up at the other guardians.

"What? Not gonna say a proper hello?"

"Oh that's it. Get him!"

_And this is why I love my family._

X laughed as the commanders came around him, all giving him an embrace quickly before they parted, smiling at him.

"Glad to see you're still holding up well." Harpuia chuckled. "You're still able to command a room effectively."

"Yeah. Not bad for a lab head." Fefnir smirked. "You really should come out with us some time on the field. For old time's sake."

X shook his head but still smiled.

"Sorry but I'm going to have to politely decline. I'm too old for battle now. You all know that."

"Still, you got that spark in your eyes." Harpuia crossed his arms. "I bet if you had to, you could still show the full fury that everyone knows of the legendary Megaman X."

"I'd prefer not too." X's smile didn't falter. "And I'd rather it doesn't get to that point." X folded his arms behind his back. "I need to return to the lab now. You all know your assignments. Make me proud, my warriors."

"We will." Leviathan smiled for a moment before it faded. "Though X… I recognized that navi that took out that fire navi. Isn't that your nephew?"

X frowned, giving a nod.

"Unfortunately, yes. That's his second run in with that one as well. The first was an oven fire in his home."

"Maybe you should brief him as well, like you did us… He's not like normal navis. That fire navi was a custom job but we know how special he is." She lowered her voice. "Hub is a risk to them because he's built like us not like a normal navi."

"And that's why he's getting briefed in a different manner and increased training with Zero and the others."

"You swear?"

"Have I ever betrayed my word?"

She shook her head.

"Just… stay safe. I don't want anything to happen like… back then." She frowned, before hugging X quickly again before pulling back. "Keep yourself and our little cousin safe."

"I will." X looked to them all. "Now, back to work, all of you."

All gave a nod before disappearing into bits of data, leaving X by himself.

X lowered his head, sighing

_I really had hoped WWW had just given up._

_Then again… when has the fight against net terrorism ever been simple?_

oooooo

Megaman was taken aback when Zero had asked him to go out with him to SciLabs private server without Lan. Not that Lan was aware of this. The boy was currently fast asleep in his room, exhausted after a long week of school.

Regardless, it was a bit surprising… and concerning.

_Usually whenever Zero wants a moment alone with me that means something serious is going on._

The two were currently sitting on a bench that was off to the side of the private sparring server. They were watching as Aile and Vent combated with each other, both testing their specialized weapons… and their abilities to change their form.

"Z form! Engage!" Aile shouted, her armor changing from her blue armor to a set of red and tan armor that resembled Zero's. She drew out a sword, clashing it with Vent's. "Hya!"

_So cool…_

Megaman looked to Zero, seeing the navi was watching the two intently, his fingers laced together, his chin resting on top of them. He could see concern riddled in his eyes and body language. He was slouched over a bit, which wasn't normal. He usually had a strong yet somewhat relaxed posture when he was sitting or standing.

He glanced to Megaman, causing the navi to look away.

Zero sighed.

"... Hub. There's a very… very important… and somewhat dire reason I brought you here tonight."

Megaman looked back to him, worry coming to his eyes. To hear his true name like that, it wasn't normal. He couldn't even remember the last time anyone aside from his own mother calling him by it.

"What's wrong?"

"This involves the last two major netbattles you got into during those fires."

Immediately, the navi looked away again, nervously, choosing to focus on what Aile and Vent were doing.

"What happened?"

"It wasn't random and it wasn't some nut who was being a petty criminal. It's bigger… Hub, I want you to pay attention carefully to what I'm going to tell you. Alright?"

He looked back at Zero, worry in his eyes, his stance tense.

"Alright."

Zero sighed.

There was no easy way to break the news and he hated worrying the kid.

"There is an organization of net terrorists that are on the rise. They're known as WWW." Zero pulled up a screen with the logo. "This, appeared in Yuichiro's email the same day the fire at our home happened. With some investigating, we also found it in Mayl's email folder as well. These are how they targeted you both."

"What!? Why?!" Megaman's eyes widened in horror. "They could've killed Mayl and Lan!"

"Hub… that's what I think they wanted to do in the first place. They're a danger to the public, both on the net and off with what they cause to happen."

"But… Why!? What would they have gained from murder!?"

"Presence." Zero's eyes narrowed. "Net terrorists gain power from fear… and so, murder is a way to go. No matter who it is, it will get their message across that they are a force to be reckoned with."

"So… what do we do?"

"We prepare." Zero's look turned gentle as he brought an arm around Megaman. "Hub, I don't know what will happen next. Maybe WWW will leave you alone and you and Lan can go about your days in peace… But… there's a chance you will cross paths with them again. And when that happens, I want you to be ready."

Megaman had fear flickering in his green eyes for a moment before it faded, seriousness coming to them.

"What do I do then?"

"I will train you personally to be ready for harder battles. That means coming to this server during the night while Lan is asleep. Nothing too different from what we usually do."

"Got ya… and what about Lan?"

"For now, we say nothing. The boy has enough to worry about. We come clean when the time is right. Understood?"

Megaman was quiet, uncertainty flickering across his gaze.

Keeping secrets from Lan wasn't abnormal but he was hoping to keep them to a minimum.

"I... " Megaman let out a sigh, looking away. "I don't like this… but I understand. Lan doesn't need to know… I just feel bad. Like I'm lying to him.."

"You're not. You're keeping him safe. The less he knows the better for his own safety."

"And if WWW targets him?"

"Then he gets to know. But, let's not worry about that happening yet. For now, we need to get you up to speed." Zero stood, helping him up.

Megaman took a deep breath, giving a nod.

_He's right. The more Lan knows about this, the risk of him getting attacked will go up. Especially since he's a Hikari…_

_After all, that's why no one outside of our family can know I'm Hub._

Megaman sighed.

_I just… wanted to tell him this year._

_I guess that'll have to wait again._

He narrowed his eyes, looking to Zero.

"Well… let's get started then."


	10. Game Prep

"I guarantee, it will be a perfect distraction, Lord Wylie."

Lord Wylie looked down at the man before him, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not entirely convinced since what you propose to do would only affect children, Count Zap."

"Ah, but here's the little detail." Count Zap grinned. "If children are upset, then many grown ups will be distracted, be it parents or company owners. It'd be a perfect time to make small data robberies without being detected. Plus, it's a good way to cause mayhem in general. Admit it, causing chaos for the sake of chaos can be pleasurable, Lord Wylie."

"True." Lord Wylie chuckled. "Very well, you may go through with this plan. Though, one more thing I ask since I know you're capable." Lord Wylie's gave turned serious. "I need your navi to disable the power at one of the old SciLab data holds so that Torchman and Wizardman can pick up some much needed data I need. Easily done?"

Count Zap bowed.

"My Lord, it will be a glorious performance I will gladly perform."

"Good… and one more thing."

"Yes?"

Lord Wylie's eyes went dark.

"If you cross paths with the navi known as Megaman, delete him on sight. Understood?"

Count Zap nodded.

"Loud and Clear, Lord Wylie."

"Good… Now go."

_Spread chaos on the net._

oooooo

"This is gonna be so awesome!"

Lan pumped a fist in the air, leaning back in his desk chair.

"We're gonna get to play Rockman Legends 3 before it even comes out! How many kids can say that?"

"Not many." Megaman chuckled, the navi currently present on Lan's computer monitor. "I can't wait to try out the new weapons they'll have for us navis to use in the game. Plus, finally get the conclusion to the story."

"No kidding. We gotta see if Rockman was finally able to go home."

"All answers at midnight from what I understand." Megaman smiled. "I'm guessing you and the others are going to hype yourselves on sugar as a means of staying awake?"

"Oh, totally. Don't worry, we're still going to have real food too. Yai's maid army has a whole dinner planned for us and plenty of snacks and of course… our sweet nectar."

Megaman shook his head, chuckling.

"You and your weird addiction to Dr. Prog. Seriously, what is so great about that stuff?"

"It's uber sweet and gives you a kick!" Lan grinned, folding his arms behind his head. "It's… hard to explain. Especially to someone who doesn't have taste buds."

Megaman smiled.

"I don't mind. I like hearing you describe stuff like that."

"It's sweet… fizzy. It makes your mouth all tingly and then when the caffeine kicks in, it's like… well, like a rush from getting a recovery chip I guess."

"Oh!"

"But like… times ten."

Megaman gave him a concerned look.

"Maybe you shouldn't drink too many. After ten recovery chips I can't stop bouncing around the server."

"That's the whole point!" Lan laughed. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"You'll sleep at some point, right?"

"I"ll sleep when I'm-"

Lan decided not to finish the last part, at the look his navi was giving him.

"When I'm dead tired. There."

"Good. Just want ya to make good choices too."

"I will… Besides, not like I'm gonna speed through it. Where's the fun in that?"

"Exactly…" Megaman gave an innocent look. "And… I'll get to be Rockman, right?"

"Heck yes you will be! I know how much you love playing as him."

"Yes!" Megaman pumped his first before composing himself. "I mean… Thank you."

Lan laughed before getting out of his chair, checking his backpack one last time.

"Okay… Pajamas, because the best way to play a game is in happy clothes… Gamepad, can't play without it… PET adapter so my awesome navi can play as the main character… change of clothes… and my toothbrush because I know someone will be on my case about it."

"Not my fault I don't want you losing a perfectly good adult tooth at age 14."

"Yes, yes." Lan slung the backpack over his shoulder, picking up a pillow before getting Megaman's PET, pointing it at the monitor. "Jack out."

Megaman disappeared from the computer monitor, appearing on the PET's screen.

"Well, ready for some fun?"

Megaman nodded.

"Let's do it."

oooooo

Time moved quickly as soon as the boys arrived at Yai's place. Dinner was served, the teens stuffing themselves quickly before heading to the gaming room, all dressed in their pajamas and sprawled about on a huge blanket and pillow nest they had built around the couches in the room.

They glanced up every now and then at the big screen in the room that had the logo of the game they eagerly awaited to play displayed on it with a timer right below it.

They still had another two hours to go before it was time.

"Best. Idea. Ever." Dex grinned, flopping back against a couch. "We seriously deserved this after this week's test."

"No kidding." Tori lied out his stomach, hugging a pillow. "I mean, I know my history of the Net Guardians pretty well but the details can be a pain to remember."

"Or remembering how to spell the names properly… or at the very least remembering their full names." Yai crossed her arms, leaning back in the chair of pillows she had made for herself. "The only one I remember best is Fairy Leviathan and even then I struggle with spelling the second part of her name."

"Sage Harpuia, Fairy Leviathan, Fighting Fefnir and Hidden Phantom."

All looked to Lan with flat expressions… and some what surprise at him remembering all the names.

"Since when are you a smart alec?" Dex asked.

"I… kind of grew up hearing about them from my dad." Lan shrugged. "Not to be that person but remember, those guys were made from Megaman X's data. The net navi my grandfather designed so… it's kind of something I just know about."

"And you've cared when?" Yai raised an eyebrow.

"I cared for my test because it meant I could get a rare battle chip… and Dad promised to play Legends with me when I get home tomorrow."

"Ah, there's the carrot." Mayl smirked, nudging him with her pillow. "What battle chip huh?"

"Still deciding." He smirked, folding his arms behind his head. "I mean, it definitely helped that Ciel helped me cram the night before too."

"... Oh that's it! Get him!" Tori sat up, throwing his pillow at Lan. "You got reinforcements?!"

"UWAH! I can't help it, cousin perks! And it wasn't that much, just helping me focus!"

"Nope, you still get the punishment." Mayl smacked him a bit with her own pillow. "So where is she anyway?"

"She promised to go in blind with Zarek for Legends tomorrow. So, she didn't want ANY spoilers." Lan shrugged. "Can't blame her. I, however, don't mind."

"Except when it comes to when he's not about to get all the answers. I remember how you freaked that one time-"

"Ap ap! We said we weren't gonna talk about THAT movie." Lan shook his head. "But yeah… It's just kinda Hikari family history. Sure, there's a lot I still don't know but that's something I heard a lot of stories about."

"Do you ever get to see them in person?" Tori asked.

"I've never met them." Lan answered. "They're busy navis… I mean, Dad said I did once when I was a baby but I'm not gonna remember that. The only navi I've met that's famous is the man himself, X."

"What's he like?" Dex leaned forward. "Is he tough as nails? Commanding? Everyone knows he was once a great warrior."

Lan sat up, a serious look coming to his eyes.

"Here's a secret about Megaman X…"

Everyone leaned in closer.

"He's… a science geek like my dad." He deadpanned.

"What!?"

"You're joking!"

Lan shook his head.

"Nope. Strict cyber science researcher just like him. He doesn't really leave SciLabs either, except during holidays when everyone gets kicked out. He commands respect, but that's because that's how X is. He treats everyone with it." Lan explained, grabbing his PET, pulling up an image. "Everyone thinks he's a big tough war hero… but then there's also this."

They leaned over, eyes widening at the image.

X and Zero were in what they could assume to be a heated debate… X hiding something behind his back.

"What is he… doing?"

"Oh, Zero was yelling at him for swiping his saber. Like I said… geek." Lan shrugged. "Cool, but a geek… and also no nonsense."

"Oh, don't lie, Lan." Megaman spoke up. "You know what you did."

"What did you do?"

"... I tried to steal him before I had my own navi. I got locked outta my PET for three days!"

Everyone was silent before they broke down laughing.

"YOU TRIED TO NET BATTLE WITH MEGAMAN X!?"

Lan turned red in the face, flopping backwards onto the pillows.

"I was seven, okay? Kid logic."

"You actually tried though! And he locked you outta your own PET!?" Tori laughed, wiping at his eyes.

Lan groaned, putting his hands over his face.

"Shuuuut up! It was stupid!"

"Ahuh. I'm not surprised." Mayl grinned, giggling up a storm.

"So, the great netbattler got taken out by Megaman X without even fighting!"

Lan rolled over, giving Megaman a look.

"Thank you for this. Thank you."

Megaman shrugged, smirking.

"I assist where I can."

Lan shook his head.

"Alright, you guys have enough fun at my misery?"

"Hm… Are we done guys?" Yai asked, catching her breath.

"For now." Tori grinned. "Not forgetting this though."

"Never letting me live it down?"

"NOPE!"

"Great."


	11. Electrifying

Count Zap grinned as he finished setting up his little stage in his private home.

Many people had ways of operating their net navis. Sure, there was a standard, but for him, he had a more fun way of doing things. Least, to him. Especially when he was putting on a performance like he was doing tonight.

He checked the tuning on his electric guitar, sighing happily as it played a perfect chord.

_Sweet… Sweet music._

He put his black tinted visor with yellow EL wire designs on it over his eyes, the area around him transforming into a magnificent cybernetic stage with lightning designs, all with the help of holographic projectors around him.

"So, Elecman." He grinned, looking to where his PET was on a microphone stand in front of him. "Are you ready to electrify the boys and girls?"

Elec smirked, crossing his arms.

"Let's give them a night to remember."

"Haha! That's what I like to hear!" He struck a chord, holding it. "First, we'll stop by the data bank for Wizardman and Torchman and then…"

He chuckled, seeing the image of a large mansion appearing on another screen.

"The holding area for Rockman Legends 3."

oooooo

The timer was running out, the kids waiting eagerly, their PETs and game controllers at the ready.

After years of waiting, they were finally going to get the answer. The game company logo flickered across the screen as the intro music began.

"It's here." Lan whispered, excitement in his eyes. "Just a few more seconds…"

"It's finally here!"

The logo for the game appeared on the screen as the start menu was opened.

_Yes… YES!_

"Who wants to go first?"

"Lan. He's better at the boss fights." Mayl nudged him. "Your little "training" runs paying off."

Lan chuckled, blushing a little.

"Weeelll, if you insist. Heym Megaman! Ready?"

Megaman was trying to appear composed... but he was bouncing in place, just as eager to enter the game and get a chance to play too.

"Yes!"

Lan grinned.

"Alright, Megaman. Jack in-"

Just as the connection was about to be made, the screen's image flickered, before it burst into pixels, causing the monitor to go blue.

"Wait… was that supposed to happen?" Lan sat up, confused. He looked to Yai. "Hey, Yai? Your system's not broken, right?"

"Of course not!" She growled, picking up her own PET. "Glide? Reboot the game please."

"Yes, Miss Yai… and remember to breathe."

"This is a matter of utmost importance. We've dealt with this cliffhanger since middle school."

After a moment, the game's logo appeared again… before it began to warp into one that was unfamiliar. A "w" with a "3" under it.

"What the…?"

"What logo is that?" Mayl asked. "I've neer seen it before."

"It's certainly not from the game." Dex scowled. "Not that it matters since it's getting in the way!"

Megaman's system went cold at seeing this logo.

_WWW… What are they doing here?_

Megaman shook his head.

_Regardless, I need to disarm whatever is in the system. They can't be too far off._

Megaman looked around, seeing the other navis were busy trying to fix the system, finding this the opportune time to slip away.

_I'll handle this myself. I don't want them to get involved._

Megaman slipped into a data stream, heading towards the storage system in the mansion where he knew the game was supposed to be broadcasted from. As he approached it, he noticed the data stream around it was lined with blue and yellow electricity, the data corrupted and damaged.

_Definitely not good._

He was at the entrance for the system. The security gates had been broken, the sides of them burnt and practically destroyed.

Before entering, he brought out his Mega Buster, charging up a shot, prepared for what would be on the other side.

The data stream faded, his eyes being greeted with the sight of the system.

It was in shambles. Yellow and blue electricity was dancing around data storage towers, causing data to fly out of control. Security navis that were supposed to be guarding the system were on the ground, their frames burnt and pulsing with electricity.

In the center of all the madness, was a net navi with black armor that was adorned with yellow and blue glowing lighting patterns. His red eyes gleamed with amusement as he held an orb of data that had all the contents for Rockman Legends 3.

"Just take this home and we can hold a ransom for this beauty. I bet the stupid CEO would pay top dollar to get this back."

Megaman narrowed his eyes.

"How about you give that to me and we can forget this ever happened?"

The navi looked up at him, sneering.

"Oh, look, i's the blue pipsqueak that took down Torchman."

… _Oh great. They're friends._

Megaman kept his buster trained on him.

"The name is Megaman… and I'm not asking again. Return that data to me and I'll let you go back to whoever your netop is without problem. Trust me, you're better off that way."

"Sorry, Megabrat, but I, Elecman, don't take orders from kids." He narrowed his eyes. "Though if you're looking for a fight." He tossed the data up, containing it in a cage of electricity. "I'm more than happy to provide." An electrical sword formed on his arm. "That is, unless you're too much of a coward to face me."

Megaman smirked, getting into a ready stance.

"I warned you." He charged, firing a buster shot right at his chest. "And I'm no coward!"

_Time to test out that training Zero's been putting me through._

Elecman sliced through the shot with ease, laughing as he jumped forward, raising his sword in the air and aiming it at Megaman.

"Then let's put on a show!"

oooooo

"Glide, what's the report?" Yai was fidgeting in her resting spot.

"Well… it seems the data for the game is missing. I tried contacting the navis over in the data storage area but have had no response. I tried checking security cameras of the area but they're all malfunctioning. I fear… someone has stolen the game."

"ARE YOU FOR REAL!?" Dex shouted. "WHY WOULD SOMEONE DO THAT!?"

"Ransom, if I had to take a guess." Tori reasoned. "I've heard stories of data ransomers who will steal things from people and then ask for loads of money in order to give it back and even then it's not guaranteed they'll give it back." Tori crossed his arms. "People like that are just scummy."

"Well, this is just wonderful." Lan grumbled. "What do we do?"

"I'll have to go into the system myself and see if I can trace the IP address of the thief." Glide answered. "After that, it's just a matter of finding them."

"I think someone's already ahead of you on that."

The navis in the system all turned to Roll, seeing she was looking around the area.

"What do you mean?" Iceman tilted his head.

"Anyone else notice Megaman is gone?"

The other navis took a glance around.

"... He didn't."

"I think he did." Roll narrowed her eyes. "And he's not letting us miss out on getting a piece of the action either. Glide, can you track where he's gone?"

"Of course."

Roll nodded.

"Let's get going then. We got some netops to avenge!"

The navis nodded, heading straight for the data stream.

"Wait, Megaman's not in the system?" Lan pulled out his PET, seeing if he could track where his navi was.

To his chagrin, the connection to Megaman was currently cut off.

"What the-!? Did that idiot disconnect me so I wouldn't follow him!?" Lan's face turned red with anger. "THE HECK MEGAMAN!?"

"And apparently so our others wouldn't either." Mayl rubbed his shoulder. "Once they find him, you can chew him out."

"Good, cause that… That just… UUUGH!"

_Did X teach him that trick!?_

oooooo

"AUGH!"

Megaman skidded across the ground, using his blaster to guard a slash from the sword. Elecman was standing over him now, trying to break through.

"Get… OFF OF ME!"

Elecman shook his head, pressing down harder.

"Sorry, like I said, I don't take orders from a kid like you, Megabrat." Elecman chuckled, forcing Megaman's arm down to his chest. "You know, I expected a lot more from you, considering how much the boss was so insistent that you be deleted. I don't see what all the hoopla is about."

Megaman's eyes widened.

"What!?" He yelped, forcing his arm up only to get it pinned back down. "What are you even talking about!?"

"Oh, just how you're a very interesting navi." Elecman grinned. "Don't think we don't know you're special, Megabrat. Everyone at WWW knows." His eyes gleamed with amusement. "The magnum opus of Dr. Yuichiro Hikari's work. And with you ruining Torchman's little escapade, you're now very much a valid threat to our cause…" He leaned in closer, whispering into his ear. "As is your pathetic, little, netop."

Megaman snarled, headbutting him as hard as he could, causing Elecman to stumble back.

"DON'T YOU EVEN TRY!" He roared, kicking up at his chest. "STAY FAR AWAY FROM LAN!"

_They know… They know…_

Elecman growled, regaining his balance.

"We'll do… as we please!"

Elecman brought out his arms.

"Jack! More power!" He shouted. "Let's rock this place!"

"Right away, Elecman!"

The system shook as the area blasted with rock music, electricity coming out of the data towers, going right into Elecaman. Elecman grinned as power coursed through his frame, his injuries healing.

"Let's finish this."

He gathered all the electricity together, firing it all right at Megaman.

"ELECTRIC WAVE!"

Megaman braced himself for impact, praying his frame would still be intact at the end of this.

A figure jumped down in front of him.

"MAYL!"

"Barrier battle chip in! Download!"

A shield formed up around them as the electricity raged on around it, before dissipating. Megaman stared up at the navi before him in shock, his jaw dropping open.

"R-Roll!?"

Roll looked down at him, crossing her arms.

"You just had to get into trouble, didn't ya?"

Megaman gulped, lowering his head a little.

"I'll explain later. Let's just finish this guy." He got up, wincing a little at his injuries. "A-Ack."

"You only have Lan to answer to." Roll got into a ready stance as the shield dropped. "Ready?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "Thanks Roll… I'll make it up to you later."

"And to us."

The two were joined by Glide, Gustman and Iceman, all ready with their own weapons.

Megaman chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Noted."

Elecman narrowed his eyes at this, seeing the now assembled group.

"Well, this is just annoying."

"And so are you." Roll lifted her arm up, transforming it into a bow. "Gentlemen, shall we?"

They all nodded, drawing up their weapons.

"I'll get the game data." Glide whispered.

"And we'll take care of the jerk." Iceman growled.

Roll fired an arrow, setting things into motion.

Glide flew into the air where the data was while Iceman and Gutsman gave their own barrage of attacks on Elecman.

"Blizzard Chill!"

"Guts Stomp!"

Elecman was sent flying by the attacks. He landed on his feet, skidding to a halt.

"Ugh… This is NOT what I had in mind for how tonight was going to go."

Megaman moved forward, aiming his buster.

"That's one thing we can agree on." He narrowed his eyes. "Well team? How mad are you all?"

"Livid."

"Gonna hear about it for weeks, guts!"

"I think we're done here then." This time… he stepped back, crossing his arms.

"GET HIM!" Roll screamed, firing another arrow.

"Get out of there, log out!" Count Zap yelled.

Elecman brought his arms over himself, his body fading into a data as the words "logging out" appeared.

Just as he disappeared, the attacks all hit where he would've been, leaving a rather large crater.

"Hmph. Good riddance, guts!"

Megaman sighed in relief.

"Good work, everyone." he smiled. "Seriously, you all saved my butt back there."

"Just don't do it again, okay?" Roll bumped shoulders with him. "Friends help friends after all."

"Right… Though… What am I going to tell Lan? I imagine he's going to be livid."

"I'm sure we can get him to calm down."

Glide came down, the game data in his hands.

"Especially with a proper game session."

Megaman sighed in relief.

"Whew… Yeah you guys are right. How mad can he get?"

oooooo

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?"

Megaman winced.

Lan was indeed still livid as he glared down at the PET screen, worry present in his eyes as well.

"I wanted to get the game back?"

"Forget the game, you could've gotten hurt!"

"Now you sound like X."

"If that'll make you NEVER do that again then great! Who taught you to disconnect like that?"

Megaman decided to keep that to himself.

"How about we just uh… get back to the game?"

Lan shook his head, logging him in.

"The silence does not spare anyone at SciLabs."

"Trust me, I'm not. I promise, I won't ever do anything that dumb again."

Lan took a deep breath, composing himself.

"Right… Now, let's see the end of this game once and for all."

"Yeah."

Megaman mentally sighed in relief.

_I don't need to tell him right now._

He smiled, making his way forward into the game world.

_Right now… I just want to relax._

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Will of the Kaiser](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23256445) by [SparkleCat21](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparkleCat21/pseuds/SparkleCat21)


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